Bemoaning the results of a survey showing that more than a third of people don’t trust the NHS with their personal information, a new EU-funded lobby group has stressed the need for a “new culture of openness” in allowing patient data to be shared between studies.

eTRIKS, which describes itself as “the result of a collaboration between 17 different partners” including Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Imperial College London, and the University of Oxford’s e-Research Centre, has reported the results of its own survey.

Right. So we need to teach patients not to worry about abuse and misuse of their sensitive information…. for their own good, right? This is not a ‘culture of openness’ that is being sought – it is a culture of disregard for personal privacy and data protection. Let’s call it like it is, huh, folks?